FOLD Invites Irakli + Interview
Irakli ploughed into his merciless appearance at FOLD for the Warning takeover back in November, we recored his set and spoke to us after the show about the unique journey that led him to move from his hometown of Georgia to the thriving German epicentre.
To start, I'd like to know about your musical upbringing in Georgia. Were you exposed to electronic music in your home country before you went to live in Berlin the past 20 years?
As a child I witnessed the changing of political system in Georgia, economical crash, political turbulences, having electricity only few hours a day. Very exciting times for the teenage student I was back then. I also went to music school and was playing piano.
When I left Georgia, not much was going related to the dance music context, but some very interesting more experimental/electonica pioneers of georgian electronic music like Natalie
Beridze, Nikakoi, Gogi Dzodzuashvili were active. Once in an interview Nikakoi said he was making electronic music without having electricity (using generator). It is a nice contradiction making electronic music without having electricity. We didn't even dream about a bright future, there was no hopes TBH, we were just doing whatever we were able to do.
Was it easy to find electronic music in record stores or was your knowledge gained through speaking to friends and families?
There were no record stores and only chance to get new music (even beginning of 2000s) was if one of your friends was lucky to travel around and bring back some CDs. I studied architecture and was part of the creative scene, so that helped to find more interesting music, beyond the surface of pop. When I was a child I remember small underground shops where you could bring your tape and they would record some music on it.
Your EP with Georgian artist, Michailo has an especially heart-breaking story but it's great that you can raise awareness of the issue through music. I think almost everyone in our scene knows about him and his family struggle through this difficult time. I'm curious how you two collaborated together since he could not communicate with the outsideworld directly.
First of all, I was very sad when I heard about his story and talked with few friends here in Berlin about him, Electronic Beats decided to meet him and to make an interview. We went together to prison and that is how we first met. Idea of making something together came to his mind while we were doing the interview and after that he was calling me from prison (he could make 1 international call a week). His wife was bringing files from prison and sending them to me and a week later she was bringing what I had sent back to prison with a USB-stick. It took almost a year to have this EP ready. There was a great support from the music community. I was really happy to see how people around the world wrote and talked about it. This helped him with his aplication and now he is out of jail. He isn't free as it is house-arrest and he should be home at night, so he can't perform but at least he is with his family, building his studio and we can talk any time now and not only once a week. He still has to get used to the world outside, but one thing is sure, we will hear a lot of music from him.
Is there any artist that is really on your radar in Georgia right now?
There are a few I really like, Yanamaste for example is a very talented producer and DJ from the new generation of techno artists hailing from Georgia right now.
How has living in Berlin affected your music taste and by extension, your dj sets?
First I was living in Cologne and that's where it all began. My friends were playing in different clubs and there was a vibrant scene of techno and house. Berlin is where I met a lot of inspiring people and artists. We started a label, to make events... I have released more than 18 records of my favorite producers, I don't think I would have done
any of that if I hadn't moved here.
Words by Emily Rose